The Federal Bureau of Investigation paid a group of professional hackers to crack the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, according to the Washington Post.
The Post, citing unidentified police sources, reported on Tuesday the FBI contacted hackers who found at least one previously unknown software flaw in the Apple phone operating system.
The new information was used by the FBI to create a piece of hardware that allowed it to access the iPhone.
The method allowed them to crack the four-digit personal code without triggering a security feature used by Apple that would have delete all data if incorrect codes are entered more than 10 times.
It has not been revealed how much the group of professional hackers, who regularly collaborate with the US government, were paid.
The FBI finally accessed the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook after a long legal dispute as Apple refused to provide FBI their support.
Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were responsible for the death of 14 people in the San Bernardino shooting in December.
Apple earlier said that the government's demand to access the phone's data is putting everyone's privacy at risk.
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